


Understanding Silence

by Capucine



Category: Generation X (Comic), Sky High (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Autistic Character, Autistic Penance, F/M, alternate penance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3742141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capucine/pseuds/Capucine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warren Peace is a student at the X Academy. When he meets Penance, a pariah who can't verbally communicate, the two become friends, since both are outcasts. But what trouble will loom for Penance? Will Warren be able to protect her, or himself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nonverbal

Warren would never admit it, but the silent, sharp girl fascinated him. Penance was what they called her, but he knew it was not her name.

She sat alone at lunch, carving apples with her long fingers and eating the pieces. No one wanted to talk to her, because she was dangerous and strange, as well as not talkative, to say the least. And that was why Warren Peace, son of the Supervillain Baron Battle, sat down at the table of the least-talked to but frequently talked about Penance.

Her skin, sharp red diamond, glittered a bit in the sun, and she held a red delicious apple delicately between her fingers; they weren’t made to do anything but destroy, as the punctures in the apple proved.

“I could cut that up for you, if you want,” Warren offered.

Penance’s greenish-blue eyes (no apparent irises) turned towards him, and she regarded him. He almost thought that she was going to somehow refuse, or even attack him.

But then she dropped the apple on his tray.

He used the plastic knife he had, sawing it into little, manageable slices. Then, without so much as a flinch backwards, he held a slice towards her, in between his fingers.

She grabbed it, and put it in her mouth. She chewed, and swallowed quickly; her hand reached out for another already. 

He was ready; he delicately transferred the apple slices to her almost Edward Scissorhands type fingers, and she ate each one. She eyed his food next, pizza, potato wedges, milk, and limp salad.

Warren couldn’t help it; he smiled, a flashing, gorgeous smile reserved for the few. “You want more? You must be starving.”

Without so much as a worry about being cut, Warren leaned across the table, and placed a potato wedge into her cupped hands. She devoured it, and was swiftly holding out her hands for more. He couldn’t remember, in the three days she’d been there, ever seeing her get an actual tray and food, instead stabbing apples on her fingers and trying to sustain herself on those.

He ended up feeding her his whole lunch, right up to holding the carton of milk and letting her drink from it. It felt like helping a younger sibling or cousin.

Penance did not smile, didn’t show the slightest delight in her face.

But good god, she showed it the only way she knew how: following him everywhere.

Boundaries had to be drawn. No following into the bathroom, no following into his room when it was time for bed or something of the sort. She was reasonable, it turned out, though she did not appear to need to sleep. She would sit outside of the boys’ dormitory, dangerous hands clasped over her knees, and the one thing about this girl was that there was no likelihood of any boy assaulting her without being castrated.

It was one day, when she sat on his bed watching him practice control by lighting candles, that he asked, “Do you have a family? I have one. My mom, Pearl Peace, and then there’s my dad, Baron Battle. He’s in jail for about fifty life sentences, so safe to say you won’t be seeing him. But my mom’s all right. She’s done her best.”

Penance didn’t reply, but that look came into her eyes that said she was listening.

“You know, I used to be angry about my dad. Not because he was evil, but because everyone expected me to be like him; I got his powers, fire, and so many people assume I’m going to be bad.” He smiled at Penance. “I know you must get some of the same vibe from people. We could practically start a club of ‘Voted Most Likely to Become Villains.’”

He came over and bent down to her height. “But I know you’re in there, and you’re a good person. We can both be good people together, right?”

Penance nodded, and Warren smiled at her again. He always felt a joy when he got through. “You know, if you want, you can stay in my room during the night. Obviously you don’t have anything to fear from me.”

Penance nodded again, and this time moved to the desk chair.

Warren knew she had her own room, with the basics but no computer; she seemed endlessly delighted by the little Youtube videos he put on for her; she was de facto allowed to skip any class, and ever since he’d made playlists of various web series, she’d sat and watched them instead.

He honestly thought she understood more than the teachers thought she did. She couldn’t do homework, since she couldn’t manipulate a pen or pencil without destroying it, much less type it out on a computer.

But she always had that simple joy when he put on the stories for her, he could tell.

And they had a calm, mutually beneficial relationship.

Up until the first Tuesday of November, two loners hung out together. But things were about to change drastically.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elle Bonnaire = Freeze Girl

Elle was not someone Warren knew well. She had freeze powers, which made people make remarks about how she would be perfect to 'cool him down' and 'keep him under control,' but other than that, she rarely seemed to approach him.

This changed one day, the second Tuesday of November, as he and Penance sat at lunch. He was busy cutting up a mango, a treat he'd gotten his mother to send him, and Penance was eagerly awaiting the next piece. He seemed to have noticed she had put on weight, but in a good way; she had been very skinny before.

He'd smiled at her, saying and making the ASL signs for, “Mango. Very good.”

She'd been picking up some on the ASL; he taught it to her as fast as he learned it. His theory with her voice was that it wasn't that she didn't understand language; it was that her vocal chords may have been as solid diamond as most of her body. In any case, she signed 'Thank you, thank you,' back at him. It wasn't quite right, because her hands weren't quite the same as your average deaf or mute person, but he understood her.

That was when Elle had sat down. She had her blonde hair done up in a sporty ponytail, and like both of them, she was wearing an X-uniform. He could make out icy blue eyeshadow smothering her eyelids. 

“Hello...?” he asked, wondering if she'd accidentally sat down at the wrong table. 

“Oh, it's Elle Bonnaire,” Elle said matter of factly, sliding the paper off of her straw and sticking it the mostly-ice cup of lemonade. She didn't look at Penance, instead turning a cursory smile on Warren. “You might know me as Icicle. Wolfsbane picked out that codename for me. You might remember her; she's the lupine teacher.”

Warren just watched Elle for a moment; she gave no indication she was uncomfortable. “Uh huh... Okay.”

“And your codename is Bonfire. I've seen you work with some of the others; you have potential.” Elle took a sip of her lemonade, and just the thought of how sweet and cold it must have been made Warren's teeth hurt.

He could see Penance eying Elle. She was obviously trying to figure where this person fit in, what exactly she was. She held out her hands for mango, and he dropped another piece into them.

Warren wasn't sure if he should give Elle the cold shoulder. Not a lot of people approached him, and in fact all friendships in the past had been purely through his approaching his friend. He didn't know what to make of Elle. “Yeah, okay.”

Elle was not quiet, not for a second. “They're talking about forming squads. I've already put in for you to be part of mine, since I feel our powers would work well together and balance out the squad. I've also put in for Lash and Husk--”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Warren said, feeling less bemusement and more irritation, “You know nothing about me, and who says I want to be on a squad with you?”

Elle laughed a little. She obviously didn't think he was upset. “Oh, I know a lot about you. You're a mid-level pyro with a dark lineage and some emotional issues. You burned your last roommate, and that's why you have your own room. Discipline problems may be a thing for you, but I can assure you under Rahne, we would have no issues. You know she's only 22? But she's been an Xman for a long time, and they are so short-lived sometimes, it only makes sense they'd allow someone her age to be our training teacher--”

Rahne was Wolfsbane, that much Warren knew, but he found himself glaring. “Go away. Penance and I are eating.”

As if to prove it, Penance held out her hands for the next slice, and with a surly look towards Elle, Warren gave it to her.

Elle's eyebrows raised for a moment, but then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. None of that tough guy act with me. If we're going to be teammates, you can't act like this.”

“I don't want to be your teammate, Elle. Now go away.” Warren moved on to the hot dog on his plate, slicing it into four pieces. Penance looked disappointed, but as soon as he put ketchup on it, she brightened up again.

“Warren, really... don't be so juvenile. This is happening, so get used to it. Five to seven person squads are going to be the norm for Xavier's, except for those who really can't function in such a setting,” Elle said, and her eyes lingered on Penance.

For some reason, this made Warren feel a bit angry. It took a quick breath for him not to flare up, and he glared at Elle. “If you don't want to have your hair set on fire, you will leave. Now.”

Elle sighed like he was being some child. She probably could have put out her own hair fairly easily, but she stood anyway. “I can see you need time to adjust. We should know in a couple days who's on what team, and then we can go from there.” She looked at Penance again, and she almost said something, undoubtedly about her, but then she shook her head, clamming up. She left.

Penance ate the last piece of hot dog, her blue-green eyes looking at Warren with a question. She didn't have the vocabulary in ASL to ask, so Warren didn't know for sure what she wanted to know.

He gave her a reassuring smile. “It'll be okay. They won't want either of us on a squad anyway. They think we're volatile.”

She copied his smile, fingers clacking against the table as she leaned closer and he fed her her favorite: chocolate pudding.

He wouldn't admit it, but he was worried.


End file.
